Hector Ledesma Articles - Page 13

Combine their standing at the bottom of the Western Conference with the generational superstar at the top of their roster and the San Antonio Spurs find themselves involved in trade chatter. Essentially, everyone outside of Victor Wembanyama is touchable. Therein lies the question. What players do the Spurs have that could help other teams – […]

The San Antonio Spurs 140-114 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder marked the franchise’s ninth defeat of 20+ points this season. The Thunder are who the Spurs want to be. But it’ll take for San Antonio time to reach that point, Hall of Fame head coach Gregg Popovich said. “It’s been a good number of […]

Billed as a match-up between NBA Rookie of the Year candidates Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren, the Oklahoma City Thunder reminded with their play that Wednesday night’s game marked a match-up between the team that shares the best record in the West and the now 8-36 San Antonio Spurs. Not only did OKC not have […]

Both Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren had their moments in a 140-114 Oklahoma City blowout of the San Antonio Spurs. Wembanyama, though, had more. As has usually been the case for most of his stellar rookie season, Wemby did enough for a win in normal circumstances. And as has often been the case, it wasn’t […]

NBA Rookie of the Year candidates Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs rookie and Chet Holmgren of the Oklahoma Thunder are set to meet for a second time in their young NBA careers. But, there’s no doubt that this one comes with much higher anticipation. When the Thunder routed the Spurs 123-87 in mid-November, […]

A little more than halfway through the 2023-24 NBA season, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich spoke at length about his superstar rookie’s progression. The most hyped player to enter the league since LeBron James, Victor Wembanayama started well out of the gate in late October and has improved ever since. While in Philadelphia […]

On any other night, San Antonio Spurs Victor Wembanyama – as he so often is – would have been the biggest story. Then again, the San Antonio Spurs’ generational prospect had never gone against Philadelphia 76ers superstar Joel Embiid. The reigning NBA MVP’s whopping 70 points against the Spurs on Monday are a 76ers franchise […]

San Antonio Spurs Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich called Jeremy Sochan’s move to point guard this season’s experiment. If the experiment took what’s become an extended pause a month and a half ago, it may have ended Saturday night. Sochan may have just played his best game of the season as he continues to […]

It’s the news leading up to news, but they’re words San Antonio Spurs fans long to hear regarding Victor Wembanyama. “Perhaps after that,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, alluding to the Jan. 24 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. That answer came from a question about whether his superstar’s restricted minutes would be lifted by […]

The more things change, the more they stay the same for Victor Wembanyama. While NBA road trips take him to cities he hasn’t played in before, the reception has become familiar. After his first game in Boston, Massachusetts, the generational prospect was asked what it felt like to be treated like a ‘rock star,’ to […]

While New York’s City’s Madison Square Garden may be known as the Mecca of Basketball, it’s nearly impossible to find a more storied NBA spot than Boston. Whether the fabled Boston Garden or the current TD Garden, which is located in the same area as the original arena, the city housed some of the game’s […]

While Tre Jones welcomes the chance to start at point guard for the San Antonio Spurs, it doesn’t consume him. In fact, ask Jones if he sees this as an opportunity to solidify his role as the team’s starting PG and the answer isn’t any kind of a clarification. ClutchPoints would know. “Every game I […]

When Doug McDermott hit five of six three-pointers to help the San Antonio Spurs to their first win of 2024 and only their sixth of the season, it was impressive enough. More impressively, though, in that January 10th victory at Detroit, is that the 10-year veteran hadn’t played a minute in the team’s previous two […]

The thought of Victor Wembanyama in the G League seems ridiculous. To everyone but Wembanyama. The San Antonio Spurs superstar rookie said as much following his team’s 109-99 loss vs. the Atlanta Hawks on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. “I like to be coached. I like to be threatened to be sent to the G […]

Several factors can be traced to the San Antonio Spurs’ best stretch of what’s been a very tough season. Since the last couple of games of 2023, Victor Wembanyama has been playing the best basketball of his very young NBA career. Since the second game of 2024, Tre Jones has reclaimed the role he had […]

Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs went 5-27 through the 2023 portion of the 2023-24 season. They’ve gone 2-4 at the turn of the new year. A 122-116 loss to the Chicago Bulls broke a Silver and Black two-game winning streak, though it continued their best stretch of the season. “This is the fifth […]

With Victor Wembanyama out as the San Antonio Spurs continue to restrict his playing time because of recent ankle issues, Tre Jones scored a career-high 30 points in a near upset of the Chicago Bulls. “We just challenged ourselves, to be honest, to have some pride, step up and we made it a game,” Spurs […]

Though English is not first language, San Antonio Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama wants everyone to know he means exactly what he says – especially when it comes to his game. “I did mean that literally. I’m not talking for nothing,” Wemby said Friday about a comment he made to ClutchPoints last week. The backstory Two […]

The new year has marked a new beginning of sorts for the San Antonio Spurs. That Victor Wembanyama is on a tear is the driving factor but there are several reasons as to why the Silver and Black are playing their best ball of the season. “We’ve just been playing better. It feels like, to […]

Most San Antonio Spurs fans remember exactly where they were this past May 16. Following Wednesday’s victory at the Detroit Pistons, Victor Wembanyama had a chance to reflect on his NBA Draft night. “I’m glad it is how it is,” Wembanyama revealed after his team’s 130-108 win against one of the two other squads that […]

A first for San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama ended as he came in second place elsewhere. But as is typical with Wemby, whatever he does most recently is what makes the headline because he seemingly impresses with every passing night. On the night that the 7-foot-4 phenom’s string of five straight 20+ point games, […]

For all the firsts he’s already racked up this season–from becoming the youngest player ever to post eight consecutive double-doubles, to matching some of the game’s greats as the first to accomplish certain stat lines since they did it–San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama is in the midst of another first right now. A personal […]

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama had the ball feet from the basket with just 13 seconds left in the game. His team was down two to the Cleveland Cavaliers. He’d scored 24 points, including a runner in the paint that had just brought his team within a bucket. He passed. Upon getting the ball […]

With only five wins, coming up with the San Antonio Spurs’ best game of the season shouldn’t prove tough at all. And it may not be. However, it might not be one of their five victories either. In a 125-121 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks last week, the Spurs — to borrow a phrase from […]

After starting 65 of the 68 games he played for the 5-29 San Antonio Spurs last season, Tre Jones didn’t start his first game of 2023-2024 campaign until the New Year. You could say that, for the most part, he made up for last time. Jones’ 35 minutes of action tied Devin Vassell for the […]

His fifth-ever game when he scored a career-high 38 points, including 10 in the final quarter to out-duel Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, may forever mark his ‘coming out party.’ But perhaps San Antonio Spurs rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama’s performance Thursday against the healthy Milwaukee Bucks can be referred to as his birthday party. On […]

San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama raised some eye brows following Tuesday night’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies when he revealed he had checked himself into the game without the consent of Hall of Fame coach, Gregg Popovich. Don’t expect the team’s second-best player to follow suit. ClutchPoints asked Devin Vassell if he’d consider making […]

A new year can promise new beginnings. For head coach Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs, they’ll be happy with a small step forward — a step they think they might be taking now. Mired in the midst of what would easily be the worst season in Spurs franchise history if they continue as […]

As ABC gets set to televise midweek NBA games, a Victor Wembanyama-Chet Holmgren match-up this month has been stripped. The league and the San Antonio Spurs announced that the January 24 contest in the Alamo City against the Oklahoma City Thunder will instead air on ABC’s sister network, ESPN. The game time has been changed […]

When San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama entered Tuesday night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies with 1:46 remaining in the fourth quarter, it wasn’t because his Hall of Fame coach, Gregg Popovich, sent him in. “I wasn’t allowed to sub in but I still did it. The coach sent me out right after,” the Spurs […]

With San Antonio Spurs center Zach Collins out for two to four weeks according to coach Gregg Popovich, and with Victor Wembanyama on minutes restriction as he recovers from a right ankle injury, the Spurs have applied for a Disabled Player Exception. It’s a move centered on another of the Spurs’ big men, Charles Bassey. […]

For many, New Year’s resolutions don’t last very long–that is for those who even make them. But perhaps most folks make, or continue, resolutions without the formal tag that comes with the turn of the calendar. Consider San Antonio spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama among the latter. Asked if he has any New Year’s resolutions, the […]

With an NBA best 26-6 record and having closed 2023 with six straight wins, the Boston Celtics are the envy of most teams across the league. Include the San Antonio Spurs in that group, though for the proud Silver and Black franchise, admiration may more immediately trump objective. Gregg Popovich used the terms “All-Star talent” […]

Taking on the team with the NBA’s best record for a San Antonio Spurs squad with one of the league’s worst marks already proved a daunting task. Add the absence of their third leading scorer and a player who’s started most games this season (Keldon Johnson), and the task went from daunting to nearly impossible. […]

With Victor Wembanyama returning, Zach Collins is ruled out. And with that, a set rotation earlier in the season for the San Antonio Spurs is now in flux. After suffering what the team calls a right ankle sprain in Friday’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, Collins won’t play New Year’s Eve vs. the Boston […]

The San Antonio Spurs outscored the Portland Trail Blazers by five points in the third quarter and by four points in the fourth to make things interesting down the stretch. In the end, a second period in which the Silver and Black were outscored by 15 proved the difference, especially with Victor Wembanyama held out […]

Both Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson played well in the first-ever NBA meeting for the two highly touted prospects. But there was a clear-cut winner in the San Antonio Spurs’ 118-105 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. While Henderson scored 25 in 36 minutes as a starter in place of an ill Anfernee Simons, Wemby […]

For the better past of a year they were the two most hyped basketball prospects. In fact, some wondered if Scoot Henderson should be taken first in the NBA Draft and opined that in any other season, he would be the consensus top pick. But in the year of Victor Wembanyama, it was the French […]

As much as winning the draft lottery and the 7’3 generational prospect prize that came with it sent the city into hysteria, the perception of the 2022-2023 San Antonio Spurs added to the intrigue. Tons of questions surround any NBA team that wins just 22 of 82 games. But unique types of questions surrounded last […]